Reasoning Runs on Trust

Описание: Reasoning Isn't Broken. Trust Is. We think polarization is a failure of reasoning. It isn't.

In this episode of TrustTalk, cognitive scientist Hugo Mercier, research director at the CNRS in Paris and co-author of The Enigma of Reason, argues that humans are not fundamentally bad at reasoning. The real problem in divided societies is not that people can't think clearly. It's that they no longer trust the same sources.

When trust in shared authorities breaks down, even well-constructed arguments stop working. Not because people are irrational, but because they no longer share common ground. Mercier draws on research into confirmation bias, persuasion, and the social function of reasoning to explain why "just follow the science" so often falls flat, and what it would actually take to rebuild trust in polarized societies.

Despite the current climate of populism and institutional strain, he remains cautiously optimistic. History has seen darker periods. The question is less about how to make better arguments and more about how to restore the relationships that make arguments matter.

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